The big US conventions always bring us lots of juicy tidbits of news, and Wonder Con has been no different. Peter Segal, director of the upcoming Get Smart, is also the man behind Shazam!, and he’s had some info for us of late.
First of all, speaking at a group interview at WonderCon over the weekend, Segal said that while the writers’ strike has delayed plans for working on the film, it isn’t dead. "I think it'll still happen," Segal said. "Though timing is going to be a key issue now, because, whereas before, normally we'd be working on a script while we're in post-production [on Get Smart], so that hopefully when we're done with post-production, we're ready to go into preproduction on the next project. But now we're sort of out of sync, so, unfortunately, I'll have to spend more time with my family."
Segal was also careful to note that even though the movie has been put behind, he won’t be rushing things. "You don't really want to rush something like Shazam," Segal said. "I mean, it's going to be a huge movie. I mean, huge in scope and in price. And so you want to make sure you have a solid script and really pay attention to the casting and all the preproduction that goes into that. So, you know, I think when it's right, it'll be made."
The second piece of news is the title that the film’s title, at least for the tentative present, is Billy Batson and the Legend of Shazam,. It is a good name, combining the two important figures from the Shazam! mythos.